Product Description:

Liner Note Author: Rhonda Baraka.

Recorded in 1996, the year of Tupac Shakur's murder, this live set displays the hip-hop legend at the height of his considerable powers. Energy personified, the rapper charges through a set of tried-and-tested tunes ("Ambitionz Az a Ridah") and new tracks of that time ("Tattoo Tears"). 2PAC LIVE shows the artist warts and all, with the set interrupted by a premature "Heartz of Men" (which Shakur declines to perform, saying he hasn't rehearsed it), but the main story here is the loose vitality with which he approaches his material. As the concert hits the climax of "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted," 2Pac pounds out the chorus "Ain't nothin' but a gangsta party" like it's his own version of the National Anthem. Sure enough, these are words that shaped the rap idol's life and death.